Improvement in steam-traps



UNITED STATES PATENT CEEIGE.s

ROBERT J. BARR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-TRAPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,480, dated December 16, 1573; application filed November 10, 187 3.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT J. BARR, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a Steam-Trap, of which the following is a specifica-tion:

My invention consists of a self-acting steamv trap, the nature of which will be made plain by the detailed description following.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the complete device; Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section of the same on a middle plane; Fig. 3, an elevation of the valve fand yoke h, the tube a being shown in section, and the tube b being omitted; Fig. 4, a plan of the eyebolt or rod m employed to prevent motion of tubes a and bin a longitudinal direction from the expansion and contraction of said tubes; Fig. 5, a plan of the plate 0.

a and b are two tubes, united by a tube, c. d and c are castings attached to the free ends of the tubes a and b, respectively, there being an oricc, c, in the casting d for the admission ot' steam, and an orifice, lw, in the casting e for the escape of the water formed by the condensation of such steam. f is a valve', the shell ot' which may be like that of an ordinary globe-valve. The valve f has a smooth stem, g, which passes through a steam-tight aperture formed for it in the shell of the valve, as -shown in Fig. 2. 71, is a yoke. It is rigidly attached to the tube a at one extremity by the bolts and nuts t' and j, and to the valvestem g at the other extremity by the nuts k and l. m, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, is a rod, which has in one end an eye, a, Fig. 4, through which the tube cis passed, its opposite end being furnished with a screw-thread, by which, inconnection with a nut, s, I regulate the lift ofthe valve-or, in other words, the amount of eX- pansion and contraction it is desired in any given case shall close and open the valve. o, Figs. 1 and 4, is a plate containing apertures p and 1, which iit on projections on the castings d and e. There is also formed in this plate o an aperture, r, for the end of rod m. s is a nut on the end of rod m.

rlhis steam-trap is applicable in all situations where steam-traps are usually employed.

Steam enters through the aperture c, and circulates through the tubes a and b, expanding these tubes. The rod fm prevents any longitudinal motion of these tubes, the eXpansion of which, therefore, causes them to spread apart, the tube a carrying the yoke h `and valve-stem g in one direction, and the tube b carrying the shell and seat of the valve in the opposite direction, thereby closing the valve and preventing further passage of the steam.

On the other hand, when condensation of the steam has taken place, and the tubes a and b contain water, they cool and contract, thereby (reversing the action above described) opening the valve and allowing the water produced by the condensation of the steam to cscape from the tube b through the aperture w. rIhese operations are repeated automatically.

rlhe tube c may be dispensed with, and the steam and water passage, composed of the separate sections oi' bent tubes a, b, and c, may beformed ef one continuous tube similarly bent; and instead of constructing the tubes a and b in the curved form shown, they may have an angular form given to them; thus, the tube a may be made so as to describe a straight line from the steam-inlet orice c to the point of contact ot' said tube with the yoke, and another straight line from the yoke to the union tube c, and the tube b may be, in like manner, made to describe a straight line from the union tube c to the valve, and another straight line from the valve to the water-escape oriiice w. I much prefer, however, to construct the said tubes as rst above described.

Instead of employing the rod m to prevent motion of tubes a and b longitudinally from the expansion and contraction of said tubes, the two opposite ends of the instrument may be attached to fixed sockets, or placed in contact with rigid abutments, which would operate to prevent the longitudinal motion re- Aterred'to; but I prefer the method of construction tirst above described.

I claim- 1. The method of operating the valve or valves of steam-traps by combining bent tubes with means for preventing their longitudinal movement, and for rigidly securing their ends, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the bent tubes, the slotted plate o, rod m, and valve j', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the bent tubes, slotted plate o, valve f, and yoke h, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ROBERT J. BARR.

Witnesses:

CnAs. F. PIKE, J As. H. RICHARDS. 

